


Irregular

by eanard



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-20
Updated: 2019-06-21
Packaged: 2019-11-26 01:30:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18174053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eanard/pseuds/eanard
Summary: Donghyuck slips and hits the back of his head in the middle of practicing the choreography for regular. However, when he regains consciousness, the world is anything but regular.





	1. Another World

**Regular**

 

Its 5 am when the van pulls up in front of their dorm. Donghyuck is tired to the bone, not having slept well the night before. The others aren't any better. Sicheng can't stop yawning and jaehyun is practically sleeping while standing. Yuta's eyes look dead and doyoung's face is swollen from sleeping with his face against the pillows. No one looks good. Well, no one but jungwoo, it seems. While most of them are in slacks, or in the case of mark, half in pyjamas, jungwoo looks like he's ready to attend an interview. Donghyuck thinks it's unfair. No one should be able to function so early in the morning.

Donghyuck enters the van last, right after johnny. The older boy offers his shoulder, and donghyuck's grateful that the half american tall boy is so accepting of donghyuck's clingyness.

He rests his head against johnny's shoulder and closes his eyes, sighing happily "you're my favorite hyung"

 

\----

They can't seem to sync up in a certain part of the choreography, which means they have to do it over and over and over again. Its by the 10th time of repeating it that donghyuck starts getting angsty, annoyed at the speed of their progress and somehow more tired than he should feel, sleep deprivation and fatigue finally catching up to him

"Let's go again" taeyong announces from his spot in the middle, and everyone gets into position.

The music starts blaring that one part again, a little tad sooner than donghyuck had anticipated. He tries to catch up with the tempo, but his left feet steps on the apparently loose shoelaces of his right shoe and he looses his balance, falling on his back and hitting his head against the hard floor of the practice room.

 

 

**Irregular**

 

When donghyuck opens his eyes, the first person he sees is jeno.

"You scared me back there" his friend says as he realizes donghyuck's woken up "i was so worried"

Donghyuck wonders if he's at the hospital. Was his injury really that serious? So serious that dream got informed about the situation?

"Uh. Sorry" donghyuck tries at a laugh "you know i can be clumsy sometimes"

A nurse suddenly bursts into the room, confirming donghyuck's suspicion of being at a hospital. She gives donghyuck a small smile and explains his condition. "Luckily, you only suffered a concussion. Nothing completely serious."

"How long have i been unconscious" he hopes its no more than a day. they still had half the choreography to learn, and with donghyuck missing, it'll only complicate things for the other members.

"Less than a day," the nurse replies reassuringly. "your boyfriend brought you in the afternoon, And it's only barely starting to get dark"

Donghyuck nods. Good, he'll be able to catch up with the others much faster than he expected and-

"Wait" he exclaims, blinking his eyes, confused by what he's just heard "what"

Jeno's the one who answers him, sitting at the edge of the hospital bed "you slipped on water during drama class and hit your head against a metal post, can't you remember?"

Drama class? Metal post? Boyfriend?

What?

"Umm, really?" Donghyuck replies. Maybe they're playing some sort of joke on him. He's half expecting renjun to pop out of nowhere and yell a "got you!" While jaemin appears with a camara in hand.

However, that doesn't happen. the only thing that does happen is jeno extending his hand to hold donghyuck's own, lacing their fingers together "yeah really."

Jeno's never been good at acting, so the fondness donghyuck notices in the boy's eyes and the caress of his hand must be auntentic, which means something is very very out of place.

"Are you okay, hyuck?" Jeno asks, worry crystal clear in his eyes (who knew jeno's eyes could be so expressive?)

"Yes" no "yes" no.

The nurse says something else, but donghyuck's too distracted looking at jeno's hand in his own, completly confused about what the hell was going on.

Jeno snorts "why are you staring so much?" He asks. Donghyuck looks up from their linked fingers to look at jeno's face. The nurse is gone.

"I-" donghyuck's eyes widen "your hair is black"

Jeno laughs at him again. "So is yours. What about it?"

Last time he checked both their hairs had been bleached at the salon. Blonde. Not black.

 

\----

He gets allowed to leave an hour later, with a few instructions on how to treat his concussion. His hair is black, his clothes are pieces he's never owned and he can't even recognize what brand of shoes the sneakers on his feet are. Nothing is like it should be, not his appearance, and obviously not jeno, who has an arm wrapped around donghyuck's waist in an attempt for comfort but it just manages to freaks donghyuck even further.

He must be dreaming, right? He must still be unconscious, a manager keeping watch on him while the rest of the members are annoyed that there's now a hole in the choreography because one person is missing. And jeno is blond, resting at the dreamies dorm, playing a video game with jaemin, and probably renjun is watching them just to laugh. Or. Maybe he's not dreaming. Maybe he's been teletransported to another dimension, a dimension where he's jeno's boyfriend and they probably kiss and-

"Hyuck" jeno says, snapping donghyuck out of his thoughts "are you actually okay babe, you've been spacing out a lot"

Babe. Donghyuck doesn't know if he wants to laugh, gag or cringe. (Maybe all three). He doesn't know what he should do. Wherever he is, it seems he's in a relationship with jeno. The boy looks at him with starts in his eyes and donghyuck doesn't know how to react. He has 2 options: either go along with it and hope he wakes up soon (or returns to his dimension or whatever happened) or he's honest about who he is (I'm donghyuck but i don't think I'm your donghyuck) and tells jeno they're just friends.

"Yes i am" donghyuck says, smiling to let the other boy know he's okay "now stop frowning or you'll get ugly frown marks"

Jeno smiles back at him, smiles that iconic eye smile that makes all the fans go crazy. Donnghyuck can only truly go with option 1 in this scenario. If he tells jeno he's not from here, then the boy will just worry about his sanity, or think donghyuck's using a cheap trick to break up with him. donghyuck doesn'twant to ruin the life of his doppelgänger. itsnone of his business if his other self is in a relationship with another version of one of his friends, right?


	2. Wake Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ɹɐlnƃǝɹ & ɹɐlnƃǝɹɹᴉ

 

 

 

 

**ɹɐlnƃǝɹ**

 

 

It's hot, but at the same time it's cold. The sun ruthlessly shines on Donghyuck's face as he races to catch the bus, but the wind is cold against his skin. He woke up slightly late and now he's rushing to get to class on time. Thankfully, the bus driver doesn't close the door in his face, and Donghyuck sits his sweaty running self in a free seat and sighs in relive. 9:30. He has enough time to get to university for his philosophy class.

 

 

 

 

\---

Philosophy is horrible, and he's already exhausted after the two hours are over. He wants to be in his bed, cocooned up inside his blankets, preferably with Jeno cuddling him and rubbing his belly. He's more tired than usual for some reason unbeknown him. He went to sleep relatively early yesterday, so he doesn't understand why he so desperately wants to drop dead on the floor.

He's regretting life as he walks down the hallway when someone suddenly hugs him from behind and before he can turn around he's already been pecked in the cheek.

"G mornin"

 Donghyuck melts as soon as he sees Jeno's eye smile.

 "G morning" he replies, and properly plants a kiss on his boyfriend's lips. Donghyuck loves kissing Jeno, his lips are soft like pillows, and it never fails to give him a fluttery feeling inside his chest.

 Jeno's still smiling, but a frown sneaks into his face when he notices Donghyuck's eye bags "You look tired. You okay?"

 He nods, but a yawn escapes him. "I think maybe i'm just hungry."

 As if on cue, his stomach starts growling. Right. He didn't even have breakfast on his frenzy to get out of the house.

 Jeno laughs as he links their hands together. "Let's eat before drama class then"

 Donghyuck flutters his eyelashes and puts on his best aegyo face "Buy me lunch, pretty please?"

 The other boy pretends to gag, but Donghyuck knows Jeno's secretly a sucker for aegyo and anything cute, so he's not surprised when he says "okay okay"

 

\---

Donghyuck still feels tired after eating, the bulgogi he downed and his now full stomach apparently not enough to make him feel more awake. He doesn't want to worry Jeno, so he tries his best to act more awake than he actually feels.

 Mark and Jaemin are already inside the theatre when they get there, talking with Doyoung, who Donghyuck still can't believe actually got the job of teacher assistant.

 "You look like shit" Jaemin says.

 Donghyuck rolls his eyes "Thank you for blatantly stating the obvious"

 Jaemin bows "My pleasure"

 Before he can express how attacked he feels, the teacher gets there and Doyoung motions for them to keep quiet.

 

\-----

It's really his fault for not noticing the spilled water bottle on the floor when he went backstage to get a prop, but before he can blame himself, he's already slipping and then everything turns black.

 

 

 

**ɹɐlnƃǝɹɹᴉ**

Donghyuck wakes up to Doyoung reading a book. At first he's confused, but then he remembers that he slipped on water and that Doyoung's the TA, so it makes sense for the older boy to be keeping watch on him.

 "What time is it? Was I out for long?" he asks as he sits up. His head starts pounding. Bad idea.

Doyoung immediately gets up from the chair he was on and pushes Donghyuck, gently, to lay once more against the mattress "Rest, they've cleared your schedule, don't worry"

He's too tired to question the boy's odd choice of words, so he just obeys and closes his eyes again.

 

\------

When he wakes up the second time, it's dark. He's disoriented as he gets up, the pounding in his head almost nonexistent by now. He still hadn't processed that the room he's in ins't the infirmary when he hears noises coming from outside. Without much thought, Donghyuck crosses the room and opens the door.

What greets him is the strangest sight that's he's ever seen. Mark, Jaehyun, and Jaehyun's boyfriend, Sicheng, are all sprawled on a sofa wearing nothing but pyjamas; Doyoung and, for some reason, his cousin Taeyong, are frying meat in a frying pan while Taeil, Doyoung's friend, is cutting vegetables at a side; and Johnny and Yuta are chatting with Jungwoo, his  _neighbour_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm planning on the titles to either be nct's song titles or albums


	3. Mad City

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ɹɐlnƃǝɹɹᴉ: donghyuck doesn't know what's going on.

**ɹɐlnƃǝɹɹᴉ**

 

He blinks once, twice, three times. However, the sight in front of him stays the same. He even closes the door and opens it again, but nothing changes. Donghyuck’s a second away from completely panicking when his cousin looks at him, probably notices how tense he is, and leaves Doyoung’s side.

“Are you okay?” he asks, resting a hand on his shoulder

“What is going on?” Donghyuck whisper-shouts, trying to remain calm “Where am I? Why is your hair _bleached_?”

Taeyong looks at him with confusion and a little bit of concern “What do you mean? You hit your head earlier in practice. The managers brought you to the dorms because the doctors said it wasn’t something serious”

Donghyuck snorts, bewildered beyond belief. A prank. It must be a prank. A very _unnecesary_ , elaborate prank. “I did hit my head, but this is just ridiculous. Did Renjun put you up to this? Jaemin?”

Taeyong looks even more concerned “What do you mean?”

He’s about to scream in frustration when Jaehyun, who Donghyuck now realizes also has bleached hair,  walks up to them and ruffles his hair “You slept all day”

A prank, a prank, it has to be a prank, right, _right_? He looks around the room and notices that out of everyone there, Mark, Doyoung and Johnny are the only ones with black hair. He’s going crazy, he’s completely nuts, he must be, right?

“Donghyuck?” his cousin says, definitely worried now.

Jaehyun looks between them, now realizing something is clearly wrong “What’s going on?”

Donghyuck rubs his eyes and squats down on the floor, overwhelmed by everything currently going on. Taeyong kneels next to him and wraps an arm around his shoulders, rubbing circular motions with his thumb.

The older boy shakes his head “I don’t know. We have to call the managers, he needs another check up”

“What’s wrong with donghyuck” it’s johnny this time,and when donghyuck moves his hands away from his face he notices everybody is now forming a circle around him, all sporting equally confused and worried expressions.

 

\--------

After doyoung and taeyong talk to someone over the phone, they sit him down at the table in the kitchen.

“Can you remember our names?” Doyoung asks.

Donghyuck, even in midst of his anxiety, rolls his eyes “Of course I do. What i do not understand is _what’s going on_ ”

“What do you mean” yuta asks, calmly.

Donghyuck waves his hands around, exasperated “like, where are we? Why do so many of you have your hair bleached?” He pauses, and suddenly remembers jeno’s face, a face he so desperately wants to see in the middle of this madness. so he asks about his boyfriend “also where’s Jeno? I want to see him”

“There’s something definitely wrong with him” yuta comments, sighing.

“He remembers our names at least?” Sicheng adds. “It can’t be that serious”

“Maybe a short term amnesia-”

Donghyuck slams his hands on the table, interrupting Doyoung, and repeats his question. “Where’s Jeno?”

Before anyone can grace him with an answer, a middle aged man comes inside the apartment, closing the front door behind him. He looks exhausted, like he would prefer to be anywhere but there at this moment.

“Follow me. We’re going to the clinic”

He’s been raised not to trust strangers, so when the man looks at him, waiting for Donghyuck to follow, he shakes his head and remains seated. The older man frowns, clearly not having expected that reaction from him, his expression turning from confused to irritated soon enough. Donghyuck can feel the waves of fury coming out from the other man, but he doesn’t cower, and instead, level’s the guy’s intimidating glare with one of his own.

“Donghyck” Taeyong suddenly says, coming through to stand next to him. “Don’t worry, he’s trustworthy.”

“You know him?” Donghyuck replies, breaking his stare to look at his cousin with curiosity

Taeyong nods “If it would make you feel better, i can come along”

It takes a little more of convincing, but after a few minutes of donghyuck refusing to follow the man outside, Taeyong finally changes his mind and he reluctantly leaves with the stranger and his cousin.

 

\---------

The doctor asks him various questions, from such simple ones as “What’s your name” and “When were you born” to more elaborate ones such as “Where did you go to school? What colour was your uniform?” or, specifically “What was your audition song?” to which donghyuck has no answer because he’s never auditioned to anything in his life besides sending his application for his university.

The doctor then makes him get a few scans, and after an hour or so, he’s once more inside the consultation room, this time with Taeyong and the middle-aged stranger with him.

“Well” the doctor says, looking at her notes and then at the stranger “He knows vital information. Like where he is, who he is, who’re his friends, his family. However” she pauses, and gives donghyuck a pitying stare before continuing “He couldn’t answer the more detailed questions, or if he did, he answered something completely different than what his friend wrote down” she sets her notes down, and holds up the scans. “His brain is fine. So it’s not a serious issue, just….he can’t remember certain information”

“You’re saying he has _amnesia_?” the stranger voices out, incredulous, “What can’t he remember”

“He can’t remember NCT”


	4. Touch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> irregular: It wasn't a dream

**irregular**

 

It only hits him that he has to go to study, that he’s a student, when he enters the other Donghyuck’s room and sees a university banner hanging above the bed. _Korea National University of Arts,_ it reads, hangul big and proud.

“He’s a uni student huh” Donghyuck whispers to himself as he lays down on the bed and stares up at the ceiling, wondering what to do next. It’s only been a few hours since he woke up in a whole different seoul. everything still seems surreal.

Jeno had taken him home after he got discharged at the hospital. His mom (or well, not exactly his mom) greeted them when they rang the doorbell, immediately pulling Donghyuck into a crushing bear hug, blaming him for being clumsy like his father. Donghyuck hugged her back, happy to be in the arms of his mother, even if she wasn’t really his mom. He can’t remember when was the last time he saw her, having been too busy with we go up preparations and recently with nct 127’s first full album to pay her a visit or call more often. The older woman greeted Jeno too, hugging him and thanking him for looking after her son while she was at work. She invites the other boy inside, and it’s only after they’ve had dinner (god, he’s missed his mom’s cooking so much) and washed the dishes that Jeno leaves, thanking his mom and hugging Donghyuck goodbye. That’s when he goes upstairs and opens the door to ‘his room’ and sees the banner hanging above the bed.

He closes his eyes, thinking about nct’s comeback and how they didn’t even perfect the choreography like Taeyong had wanted, and it’s with those thoughts that Donghyuck drifts to sleep.

\-------

 

An alarm wakes him up. An alarm that sounds strangely like a female version of exo’s debut song, with a voice indicating that it’s Kai hyung’s screamo part. The only thing is that it’s not his voice. Donghyuck gets up, confused. He rubs his eyes, yawns, and then opens them to search for the source of the sound, and when they settle on the phone laying on top of the bedside table next to his left, everything from the past day comes rushing back to him.

It wasn’t a dream.

He wills the alarm to stop, tapping on the phone’s screen to end it. The clock informs him that it’s 8am, and the lock screen reminds him that Jeno’s his boyfriend for as long as he gets stuck in this place. The picture that stares back at him is one of him resting his head on the other boy’s lap. They’re at a pier, the sun shining brightly and the sea resting calmly behind them as Jeno runs his fingers through his scalp. They look peaceful. Donghyuck’s got his eyes closed and the other boy is looking down at him with a subtle smile on his lips. It’s cute, he can’t deny that. And it’s also not something he and Jeno don’t do. Donghyuck loves cuddles, after all. However, the serenity of it all makes it too obvious that the two in the picture are more than what he himself and his friend actually are. It’s….strange. But not necessarily in a bad way. It just makes him _think_. About what? He’s not sure, and he doesn’t want to ponder too much about it after just barely waking up.

His (not) mom opens the door moments later and tells him to hurry up and get ready because _don’t you have class at 9?_ Donghyuck, happy to have a distraction from his previous thoughts, goes to the kitchen to quickly eat a bowl of cereal, then he goes to the bathroom and takes a short shower. He’s already changed into fresh clothes( that are not really his) and opening the front door when he realizes he _doesn’t know how to get to the university_. However, he doesn’t get to panic about it because Jeno’s in front of him, hand raised towards the doorbell, as soon as he opens the door.

The boy smiles at him and greets him, surprised “You’re on time for once!”

_Does the other Donghyuck sleep through his alarms usually?_

“I woke up early” he replies, shrugging and tugging at one of the straps of his backpack, for some reason a little bit nervous. What was Jeno doing here?

Jeno chuckles, his eyes shinning with what Donghyuck thinks might be endearment. Smoothly, he takes his hand off from his strap, his touch soft, and starts walking. He hums as he interlaces their fingers. Donghyck lets him. “Kai noona’s shouts must have actually helped then”

Donghyuck nods in agreement as he watches their joined hands with curiosity and-

Wait, _kai noona?_

Was exo a _girl group_ in this place?

“What-” he's about to ask anything and everything about exo when suddenly Jeno starts walking faster, tugging on Donghyck's hand and unavoidably making him walk faster too to match his speed.

“The bus is almost leaving, let’s go!”

They reach it before the driver closes the doors and it’s only after they’re sitting that Jeno lets his hand go to search for something inside his bag.

“Where are we going?” he asks, still hung up on the fact that exo might be a girl group in this reality.

Jeno looks at him with confusion, one of his eyebrows raised in inquiry as he finally finds what he'd been searching for and takes some headphones out, plugging it into his phone and offering an earbud to Donghyuck. “To university? Where else would be go?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i haven't been liking what i've been writing lately so sorry for the delay. 
> 
> "Once I hold your hand (...) my feet won't listen and keeps following you"

**Author's Note:**

> Any comments are welcome uwu


End file.
